Bible Strands
Nehemiah 13:16
Additionally, men of Tyre who lived there were importing fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah in Jerusalem.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Nehemiah addresses the nobles of Judah after documenting their violation of Sabbath restrictions through the transport and sale of goods in Jerusalem.
The words — The text records מְבִיאִים (mevi'im, "were bringing") and מֶ֑כֶר (meker, "merchandise") in direct connection with בַּשַּׁבָּת (ba-shabbat, "on the Sabbath"), describing the commercial activity that triggered Nehemiah's intervention.
The thread — This condemnation of Sabbath commerce runs parallel to the rest mandated in Exodus 23:12 and the labor prohibition specified in Deuteronomy 5:14.
Why it lands — The passage requires readers to identify economic activity that displaces sacred time and to halt trade that violates Sabbath boundaries.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
There dwelt men of Tyre also therein, which brought fish, and all manner of ware, and sold on the sabbath unto the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem.
Cross-references
- Exodus 23:12 For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you must cease, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the son of your maidservant may be refreshed, as well as the foreign resident.
- Deuteronomy 5:14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on which you must not do any work—neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox or donkey or any of your livestock, nor the foreigner within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest as you do.